Photographer: Prakash Singh / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Prakash Singh / AFP / Getty Images
Tata Group, India’s largest conglomerate, is preparing to build a military aircraft to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mission to support local defense capabilities and reduce dependence on expensive imports.
Held tightly Tata Advanced Systems Ltd. will “demonstrate its capabilities in high-altitude twin-engine aircraft” this week for military use at a defense expo in Bengaluru, a company spokesman said in an email Tuesday, without sharing further details. The economic times previously reported that the firm Tata had acquired the necessary intellectual property rights from a German platform.
If the venture is successful, it will be the first time that a private sector entity has succeeded in building military-grade aircraft – an area of high-tech expertise that has historically been the exclusive domain of the state-sponsored Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. or foreign defense contractors. It also underscores Modi’s commitment to ‘Self-reliant India ‘and’Make In India ‘- are signature programs aimed at stimulating local production and consumption.
Border surveillance
Tata’s new plane, once inaugurated, can be used for border surveillance among other military purposes. It will be presented in Aero India 2021, the spokesman said. The aerospace and defense exhibition organized every year in the South Indian city of Bengaluru will be held from February 3rd to February 5th.
While Modi’s initiatives have opened up multi-billion dollar business prospects for Indian conglomerates such as the Tata Group, Adani Group, Larsen & Toubro Ltd. and Mahindra & Mahindra Group, the ability to manufacture military aircraft requires deep pockets and a tenacity to overcome multiple setbacks. . Many Indian groups have been trying to make such planes for decades, with little success.
So far only Hindustan Aeronautics has managed to deliver this performance. It produced the twin-engined HF-24 Marut – India’s first native fighter-bomber – six decades ago – and more recently developed the light fighter, Tejas.
“Any new aerospace venture is welcome, it adds to the ecosystem,” said Air Marshal Ragunath Nambiar, former deputy chief of the Indian Air Force. He also warned that he was unsure whether the Indian Air Force needed enough aircraft “in the near future to justify a production line.”